Thought For The Day

I attend university, there is no secret to be hidden there. But last night I received an email from security with very vague instructions-there was an anonymous threat. And while that seems to be the case quite frequently with large city campuses, the notices kept coming. More information was released and soon enough, a picture started to form. A bomb threat and a school shooting had been announced.

So I guess my thought is one of reflection.

I went to school today not knowing about a potential bomb, or that I should have packed my kevlar just in case. I went to school and then went home. That’s all there is to this story. But what if there HAD been an incident? I mean, campus security did a phenomenal job being present and in plain sight, but suppose that had not been enough to scare off said attacker?

How many buildings? How many lives? How many hours of wondering why?

I’m not going to sit here and say that I pondered my own existence today-because that would be a lie. But I did stop to wonder what might drive someone to make such threats? Was it a bully? Were they attacked themselves? Was it religious extremism? Do they just really hate our university? And the answers I came up with weren’t answers at all, just more questions.

So as I sit in my home, getting around to homework, I’m glad that there were many factors which led to today going off without a hitch, and that students and faculty and staff were able to carry on with their day as though nothing were amiss. Turns out, the only thing stronger than the fear of death is how strongly we hold onto life.